More unhelpful responses from ANIC

The Australian National Imam’s Council (ANIC) has issued a press release (PDF) criticising the Abbott government for its proposed anti-terror laws.

Some of the reasoning is dispiriting in the extreme, and there is not one mention of any commonality of purpose or accepting any responsibility – just driving wedges further between themselves and the rest of the country.

Rather than acknowledging that there are problems for the Muslim community in Australia to address openly and honestly, which the ANIC fails to even mention, it instead blames Australian foreign policy for the threat of Islamic violence (see below) and thereby demonstrates that it has little if any desire to work with the Australian government on countering this threat. I would suggest to George Brandis that negotiation or consultation with such groups is futile.

If you were cynical, you might conclude that their objections stemmed from the fact that statistically Muslims are more likely to be affected by these new laws, and given that the unwritten agenda of Islam anywhere in the West is the ultimate imposition of an Islamic state under sharia law, such laws would negatively impact on the ability to achieve that aim…

But as I say, you’d think that only if you were cynical…

Here’s a little fun exercise for anyone who can be bothered – rewrite the text from the perspective of a Christian minority in Iran or Saudi Arabia, and then see how utterly ridiculous it looks.

Decades of politically correct grovelling and appeasement has allowed this situation, where a group that makes up less than 3% of the Australian population can effectively dictate foreign policy and national security. Staggering.

Here’s the text, with some commentary:

Unreasonable Timeframe: ANIC is concerned by the speed with which the government is trying to get the current amendments through parliament. As a result, proper and thorough scrutiny of the proposals has not been possible. Given the possible serious implications of the changes, the government must provide more time for review. [Translation: more time for it to be diluted?]

Piecemeal Tranches: ANIC is also concerned that the government seems to be introducing proposed changes to security and counter-terrorism legislation in a piecemeal fashion with two or three separate sets of proposals. Given the complexity of the legislation it would have been more appropriate had the government issued one comprehensive set of proposals for the community to review.[Again, this is just delaying tactics, and since when does the ‘community’ get the right to ‘review’ national security legislation? No other group gets this privilege]

Unhelpful Discourse: In a recent press conference the Prime Minister called on “Team Australia” to get behind the proposed laws. ANIC believes that such language is unnecessarily divisive and sets those who have genuine concerns about the changes in direct conflict with the government. [Loyalties, loyalties – where do yours lie? With Australia or elsewhere? If it’s Australia, then what’s the problem with ‘Team Australia’? I guess it must be elsewhere, then…] In addition, the report that the government allegedly dropped proposed changes to section 18C of the racial discrimination act to appease Muslims so it could gain support for the anti-terror provisions unfairly scapegoats these Australians. The government’s use of the word “jihadist” is particularly problematic given that the unusual combination of an Arabic word with an English suffix negatively stereotypes the noble Islamic concept of striving for what is better. ANIC calls on the government to use inclusive and responsible language. [How dare the filthy kafir use an Arabic word in the literal way, i.e. to mean the act of spreading Islam by the sword, rather than using the taqiyya-infused definition of ‘peaceful inner struggle’ that we have so skilfully sold to you dumb Western infidels. Anyway ‘striving for what is better’ is essentially striving for a world in which we all submit to Allah, so the result’s the same]

ASIO Powers: The government has before parliament proposals to grant ASIO greater powers including access to third party computers on the same system or network and immunity from prosecution to intelligence officers engaged in special operations. ANIC is concerned that increased powers will only increase the lack of accountability and oversight of intelligence officers. The prospect of these powers being abused in the absence of proper safeguards is of great concern.[Translation: the kafir are getting too close for comfort]

Lowering Arrest Threshold: The government stated that the legislative changes will make it easier to arrest terrorists by lowering the threshold for arrest without warrant for terrorism offences. ANIC is extremely concerned that further lowering of current thresholds may have the effect of criminalising legitimate, non-violent activism and calls on the government to reconsider this change. [Translation: see above]

Promotion and Encouragement: The government’s proposal includes the provision that advocacy should capture promotion and encouragement of terrorism. ANIC believes that this may have serious implications on the right to free speech where anything said which could be deemed to be in support of terrorism may run foul of the law. This will be a particular concern to preachers who spend a large proportion of their time teaching and advocating on social justice issues. [Translation: see above (again)]

Travel to Designated Areas: The government’s proposal includes a new offence of being in a designated terrorist area and making individuals justify why they were in such a location. ANIC believes that this is a serious attack on the right to freedom of movement. This provision will have the unintended consequence of capturing unwitting and innocent travelers. ANIC believes that this would be an unnecessary intrusion into an individual’s privacy with regard to freedom of movement and reverses the traditional legal onus of being innocent before being proved guilty. [Talk about one-way traffic! It’s all demands, demands, demands, with not one single word of acceptance of responsibility]

Cutting Dole Payments: On Saturday 16th August 2014, the Prime Minister announced a further proposal that any Australian citizen assessed as being a serious threat to national security would have their unemployment benefits and other welfare payments cut off. ANIC is seriously concerned about the justification of denying payments to someone who may not have been convicted of any criminal offence. Already the confiscation of passports in the absence of any conviction is causing extreme angst within the community. ANIC understands that under current social security laws, welfare payments can only be cancelled if the recipient no longer meets social security eligibility rules for example criminals serving jail sentences. ANIC believes that denying welfare payments to people who are not incarcerated may paradoxically drive these individuals into engaging in criminal activity. [A veiled threat: in other words, you’d better stop trying to prevent jihad, because that in itself causes yet more jihad]

Funding for Community Engagement: As recent as Tuesday 26th August 2014, the Prime Minister announced that $13.4 million would be allocated to strengthen community engagement programs in Australia with an emphasis on preventing young Australians from becoming involved with extremist groups. ANIC supports all measures to counter the threat of violence at home but believes that these programs are merely cosmetic band aid solutions. The main causative factor is the Australian government’s military involvement in the Middle East. If the government is serious about reducing the threat, then it must review its foreign policy decisions with regard to this region. ANIC believes that the current trend to support unjust, dictatorial regimes and unilateral military aggression based on duplicitous foreign policy positions will only aggravate the state of global fear and violence. [Translation: change direction, OR ELSE…]

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In a nutshell…

“You think they make this shit up? It’s all in the book. Their f***ing book. The only book they ever read. They read it all the time. They never stop. They’re there for one reason and one reason only. To die for the caliphate and usher in a world without infidels. That’s their strategy, and it’s been that way since the 7th century.” Peter Quinn, Homeland

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